


Questions

by AmazonWriter



Category: Doctor Strange (2016), MC2 (Marvel), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man - All Media Types, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-13
Updated: 2019-05-13
Packaged: 2020-03-02 18:13:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,692
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18816316
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AmazonWriter/pseuds/AmazonWriter
Summary: Before the Battle of Titan begins, Stephen Strange has some questions for Peter Parker.





	Questions

Ignoring the men and aliens arguing behind him, Doctor Stephen Strange strode towards the spot where he was due to meet his killer. He tried to focus on the crunch of his boots on the rust-colored dirt or the dry heat blazing from the star in the sky. Even the pounding of his heart in his chest felt miles away as he gazed over the remnants of the planet Titan, each crumbled structure already a landmark in his memory. _Thanos will reveal himself there, at the bottom of the staircase. Quill—or Star-Lord, whatever he calls himself—will lose his temper underneath the ledge. Those rocks are going to be stained with Tony Stark’s blood_.

Stephen stopped just before the staircase landing. Somehow, in a few minutes, he was going to perch on the step as calmly as if he were taking a seat on the subway. The air would crackle with electricity; the others, ensconced in their hiding places, would watch the mad titan himself walk from the shadows to meet the Master of the Mystic Arts. He envied the hope that would be coursing through his companion’s minds. His neck ached underneath the weight of Agamotto’s Eye; for the first time since he had sworn his oath to protect it, he wished he could rip off the Time Stone and throw it into the largest dimensional void he could find.

_But that isn’t how we win. You know what has to happen._

“Alright, people, it’s time to move!” Tony yelled in the nearby distance, his voice amplified underneath his mask. “Drax, you need to—“

“How are you unaware that I am not a human person? You are not even a man of iron, you are just a man who wears a suit of—“

“Right now, I don’t care if you’re a walking, talking Christmas tree, just get to your position! Same goes for you, Star-Child!”

“I _said_ it was—you know what, whatever, you’re just lucky Groot wasn’t around to hear that…” A crimson blur rushed across the sky; it was quickly followed by a bouncing figure dressed in green.

“What the hell is a Groot?…Strange, you ready to play Roadrunner?” Stephen rolled his eyes. _Ready? I don't have a choice, you idiot._

“I’ll take that as a yes!” There was a pause, as if Tony was turning around before he spoke again. “And _you_ —look, stay up there until you absolutely have to come down, alright?”

“Uh, will do, Mr. Stark, but aren’t I—” A loud bang echoed across the landscape as Iron Man flew away; at soon as he was out of view, Stephen looked over his shoulder towards the last remaining member of the group.

Peter Parker watched Tony’s disappearing figure, the eager smile on his unmasked face fading as Stark disappeared behind a cliff-face. His lips drew tight, but his fingers twitched with manic energy. “You’ve got this, Spider-Man,” he whispered to himself. “You’re an Avenger, you can do it…” He took a few paces across the blighted field, almost jumping off the ground with excitement. “You’re gonna be a big-time superhero…”

_You’re going to die in a ditch fifty yards from here._ The nauseating certainty threw the doctor back into the present; he swayed for a few seconds before righting himself. But as Peter moved forward, already eyeing the high top of the awning on which he was was supposed to hide, Stephen spun away from the staircase. He had a few minutes before the inevitable started; he was ready to use them for a good reason.

“Do you get all your ideas from eighties movies?”

“What?” Peter jerked to a halt, blinking at the sorcerer with confusion.

“The _Aliens_ maneuver that you pulled on the ship.” He almost shivered at the thought of nearly being sucked out into space. “You aren’t going to try another stunt like that against Thanos, are you?”

“I’m not _supposed_ to, but it worked, didn’t it?” Peter shot back. “And there was also this one time when I helped the Avengers tie up Giant-Man like we were in _The Empire Strikes Back_ , you know, like in the snow planet scene—”

“Everybody on Earth knows about the snow planet scene.” Both of them abruptly fell silent; the mere mention of Earth felt heavy on Stephen’s tongue. To his surprise, Peter started walking towards him, the awning temporarily forgotten.

“I actually didn’t see Star Wars for a really long time. My aunt’s kind of strict about what I watch—she doesn’t like things with a lot of guns.” A sliver of sadness passed over the boy’s face. “I wait until I’m over at my friend Ned’s apartment to see stuff like that. We started the Alien movies a few weeks ago. Haven’t made it through them all yet.” Peter’s voice grew softer, despite keeping his respectable berth. “Stupid finals.”

“You don’t need to watch the whole series; they start going downhill quick after the second one. Maybe try _Die Hard_ next time.” _Am I really putting off a fight with a god by giving out movie recommendations right now?_

“Does that one have Stallone?”

“Bruce Willis.” Stephen shook his head; an exhausted, amazed laugh was on the tip of his tongue. How could anybody possibly be so young? “You’d like it. It’s about a guy trying to climb up a building. Fits your theme and everything.”

Another awkward pause erupted between them before Peter spoke again. “Can I—I’ve been wondering the whole time we’ve known each other, but you and Mr. Stark were arguing—er, talking—“

“Do you have a question or not, kid?”

“Sorry,” he said, taking a step backwards. “Just, are you really a doctor? Like, an _actual_ doctor?”

“MD and PhD; I was a neurosurgeon.” The growl in Stephen’s throat died when he watched Peter’s eyes widen.

“Science _and_ magic? You do both?!” He exclaimed. “That’s so awesome! Ned is going to freak out when I tell him about you—we go to Midtown Tech—and I was wondering if the doctor thing was, like, a Professor Dumbledore-type situation where it’s more like a wizard school title, but do you use your spells when you do surgery?” At that moment, Peter glanced down at the doctor’s hands; his cheeks grew pink as he scanned the long, deep scars that ran over each palm. “Oh. What happened?”

“Car accident. It’s a long story.”

“But you’re still saving people?” Peter smiled, taking another step closer.

“I try to, at least.” Stephen said, fighting off the swooping sensation in his stomach.

“Can I ask you a question, too?”

“Yeah, sure.”

“Why was Stark yelling at you earlier?”

“Um…” Peter shifted on his feet. “I’m totally an Avenger now, but when you were being kidnapped by Squidward, Mr. Stark tried to send me back to Earth before we hit orbit, but…I, uh, hid on the flying donut instead.”

“That was a boneheaded risk to take.” Stephen threw as much rancor into his voice as he could muster. Peter’s eyebrows raised; he didn’t notice the doctor’s hand inch towards his belt.

“I wanted to be there!”

_And there’s my reason_. Stephen slid his sling ring onto his fingers. “To prove a point to _Mister_ Stark?” A burst of sunlight from New York’s distant skyline hit the surface of Titan as the portal opened behind the kid’s back; if Strange moved fast enough, the kid could be back home before he could sense what was about to happen. But Peter glared at Stephen, his childish grin replaced with a deep frown of pure frustration.

“Look, I know you don’t give a crap about me, but something bad was going on, okay?” He threw his hands up in the air. “I’d rather be wherever here is and helping instead of doing nothing!” Peter hunched over, looking smaller than usual. “It’s not about me—that wouldn’t be fair to anybody I care about back home. At least I can help them now.”

Stephen’s hands twitched. All it would take was one push to send this boy tumbling back into the arms of his aunt and his friends; his death on Earth would surely be better than the one waiting for him on Titan. His skin prickled as he remembered the countless stabbings and burnings and disintegrations Dormammu had inflicted upon him. Strange’s own nightmares of that ordeal hadn’t yet ceased; he knew they would only get worse with the knowledge of the pain he was about to cause.

It hadn’t occurred to Stephen that Peter had already made his own decision about his fate.

“I know you’re going to help.” The doctor said; his fingers drew still. “Tony knows it, too. Don’t forget that.” As Spider-Man straightened, the portal behind him shrank, until the sight of New York City disappeared from view. Stephen watched the gateway’s last few orange sparks fade into oblivion. “Thank you, Peter. For saving me earlier.”

“No problem.” He extended his palm and gave Strange a firm handshake. “Just so we’re clear, there isn’t any sorcerer law that says you’ll have to kill me if I tell Ned about you, right?”

“No, you should be fine.” A thin smile stole upon Stephen’s lips. _I hope you get the chance to do it._

“Cool.” Peter paused to take a breath, unable to hide his smirk. “Also, what’s your email address? If you’re not too busy after we do this, my human anatomy exam is on Friday, and I have some questions about the structure of the cereb—“

Falling silent upon seeing Stephen’s razor-sharp scowl, he shot a web towards the awning. As soon as the string connected, he jumped high into the air and swung towards his position. “Okay, we can talk about that later!” Peter yelled over his shoulder.

“Something to look forward to, I guess…” Stephen muttered to himself. He turned back towards the staircase, but this time, as he walked, he was able to exhale. He felt looser; his hands didn’t buckle. Stephen finally understood why he was so calm in sitting down to face death. He wasn’t afraid, knowing someone was watching over him from above.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading my very first site upload! I actually wrote this story after seeing Infinity War for the first time in 2018. Stephen and Peter are my all-time favorite Marvel team-up, so as one might imagine, the last few minutes of the film were a bit traumatic for me...This was my coping story, and I hope you enjoyed it.
> 
> I hope to write some more stories featuring this pair, so any comments/ suggestions that you have to offer would be appreciated. Thanks so much for reading!


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